The beginning of Our Happily Ever After

In just a few weeks my hubby and I will celebrate another anniversary. How is it that we have been married for 7 years already? Goodness it’s gone quickly! I thought I’d do a little “in the beginning of our happily ever after” for your enjoyment!

Waaaaaaaaaay back when I was 16 my mom handed me a Focus on the Family magazine (do they still make those?) and in it was an article she thought I would be interested in. So I read the article about this girl who at the age of 16 began a journal for her future husband. I thought it was such a neat idea! So I began one myself. I wrote letters to my future mate whom I did not know at the time and ended each letter with a prayer for him.

I vowed I only wanted to date the guy I was going to marry. Boy, that was tough! I didn’t know God’s plan for me was to wait so long to finally meet him 🙂

College started in fall of 2000 and little did I know that my future husband was right there on campus. I went throughout my college years with dates sprinkled here and there and with many a complaint to my mom about never having a serious relationship. My mom would always remind me of my decision to wait for *The One*. It kind of annoyed me a little bit….. but she was right.

My college years were anything but boring though! I made some wonderful friendships with some girls who loved the Lord and we always had a great time together! We made so many memories and looking back, I am thankful that the Lord reserved the relationship with my now husband for later in my college years because I probably wouldn’t have made such great friendships with these girls.

In 2003 I remember meeting my hunka burnin’ love 🙂 As crazy as it may seem, we actually had many mutual friends and it took us all the way until our Jr. year to actually meet. My good friend and I often went off campus together and one day we needed to return her car to her brother so that he could go off campus as well. I didn’t think much of the guy who was with her brother because we often met up with her brother to swap keys. If I had known better I would have paid better attention!

The fall semester of my Senior year I felt a tremendous burden to pray harder for my future husband. I prayed much for his character to be built. I prayed that he would be a man after God’s own heart. I prayed that if he must go through trials to make him that man, that God would send the encouragement he needed to make it through those trials. I had never felt more burdened for this man I did not yet know would be my future mate. My journal to him along with my prayer journal began to fill quickly with the constant prayers for him.

In January of our Sr. year just after the semester began, my phone rang. It was a Sunday afternoon and I had just woken up from a nap. I answered the phone feeling a bit groggy and trying to be quiet because my roommates and a friend of mine were sleeping on the other bunks.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Uh, hi, Wendy?” the voice on the other end asked.

“Yes?”

“Hi, I don’t know if you remember me at all, but my name is Chad and I was just wondering if you would like to meet me and some friends after church for dinner.” He worked at a church off campus and he wanted to meet up after church.

Be still my heart.

Okay, Wendy, play it cool. Don’t let on that you have thought this guy was totally good looking and has impressed you for quite some time. Can he hear my heart through the phone?